Sunday, February 1, 2015

Global Warming 9/11

I was
reviewing some old newspaper articles in my files the other night and came
across one I had to comment on….all these years later.

***** *****

In a syndicated column titled, “Ignoring the
real threats to national security,” published on February 23rd, 2001, Molly Ivins wrote the following:
“Darn it. Last week was National Security Week- Karl Rove said so- and I was so
busy pointing out the numerous idiocies of George W. Bush’s tax cut that I
missed the whole thing.

“However,
it is painfully clear the new administration folks wouldn’t know a threat to
national security from the ‘Waltz of the Flowers.’”

After
bemoaning the administration’s plan to spend $50 billion on the “perfectly
useless” National Missile Defense system, she went on to bash the Bush defense
team for being Cold Warriors and “retreads.”

Not
content just to pretend she is ever-so-much more learned in matters of
economics than the Bush team in its entirety, she smugly went on, nose
haughtily thrust in the air, and sniffed: “Look, this is really verysimple.
The single greatest threat to the national security of the United States is the
rapidly deteriorating global environment.

“National
Missile Defense does not do a thing to protect us from global warming.” (Maybe
not, but the Iron Dome system has certainly worked very well for Israel,
directly and immediately saving innocent lives).

The bit
figuratively- but firmly- in her mouth
now, she averred: “The New York Times reports that the snows of Kilimanjaro,
which have floated for thousands of years like a cool beacon over Tanzania, are
retreating so fast that they will be gone in 15 years. The same is true of
icecaps from Peru to Tibet.”

That
would be next year as I write this. It is still snowing on Kilimanjaro. In
fact, its snowcap has grown more
often than not in recent years. The Tibetan icecap is stable.

She
soldiered on: “I know that many of you who are well-informed about global
warming sometimes despair of breaking through the denial, partially paid for by
the energy companies- not to mention the depressing sight of Texas oilmen
running the country’s energy policy.” Who backs and funds, supports and reports
the many studies purporting to show how quickly climate change is ruining the
planet, Molly?

“Despair
is not only a grave sin, but, I think, unwarranted,” she continued. Guess I
missed that one on the Seven Deadly Sins List. I do remember the injunction
against envy, though. And among ‘the six things the Lord hates’ is “a man who
stirs up dissension among his brothers.” Molly does not care for many of the
rich, to put it mildly, even though she herself is very well off. President
Obama and his minions in the press, including Molly, are all about sowing
dissension among Americans based on race and income.

‘Texas
oilmen’ have never run the country’s energy policy. For the past six years,
however, there has been a Chicago community organizer, who disdains Texas oilmen, running the country.

Ivins
continued her stupefyingly smug- and ignorant- diatribe by stating that: “If
compassion is beyond you (emphasis mine), despite its
newly Bushian status in politics, try this: There’s not a chance that victims
of ‘failed states’ and climate change are going to stay where they are. The
most massive migrations in history will follow if nothing is done. In your
children’s lifetimes.”

What we
do know for certain is that victims of failed states and famines emigrated by
the millions to the United States
over the course of the last two hundred years. In our ancestors life times. Victims
of failed states such as Somalia have certainly been pouring over our borders
recently as well, albeit not because of global warming. Oh yeah, terrorists and
those fleeing from terror are coming across our borders, too.

She
closed by mocking the Texas Legislature and how, she thinks, certain Texans
speak: “Even in the Texas Legislature, they know it is from time to time
necessary to rethink their ‘pryroarities.’”

Just over six and a half months after this most ignorant and
insipid article, we lost 3,000 people on 9/11.

Daily Trivia Quiz Answer

Today's Answer: Andrew Jackson. ("Poll" got so worked up before the service he apparently had to be removed from the premises, as he was cussing long and loud).

Q) What words appear on the front of the penny, nickel, dime and quarter, alongside the likeness of presidents?

A) "Liberty" and "In God We Trust"

An Ode To Life

Appreciate all you have, as it- and you- will soon be gone. Leave no heartfelt words unspoken, no sweet gesture incomplete, no act of love undone. Love your spouse with passion and abandon, your kids with patience and understanding but also a firm guidance. Love also the truth, no matter how hard. If pursued by enough people with enough courage, it really will set us free.

And don't forget, we didn't ask to be born. We didn't create ourselves. We are not gods. There is a higher power.

Fireworks of the Mind

Write It Up

Whence Shall Come Another?

True Then, True Now

"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."- Winston Churchill

Time Well Wasted

The power lies within your hands To do with what you may But the hourglass is filled with sands Of endless yesterdays